Amazing Inventions for the Modern World from the Historical Museum

Submitted on December 2, 2011 - 9:09pm

When you come down to the Historical Museum, you'll find many, many interesting items from years past. With all the pressure to be environmentally friendly, trendy, and to still manage to live your life these days; you could go shopping for all the new items constantly being manufactured, or instead, you could come take a look backwards at some of the interesting and versatile inventions of the past and take a queue from them instead.

Some old inventions you can find at the museum are a bit more exciting than others, nobody wants to wash their clothes in the river with a big rock, but, imagine getting to skip a trip to the gym (boring!) because doing your laundry got you all the exercise you needed.

You could hand crank a washing machine, get a work out, and get your clothes done all in one go; it'd be very eco-friendly, and you would look great in all your nice clean clothes.

Okay, maybe laundry isn't your thing but we also happen to have a hand-cranked knitting machine for all your sock-related needs, and pumping a pedal to get some sewing done wouldn't be too bad either. Those old fashioned sewing machines are much nicer looking than new ones.

If your interest in inventions is a little less appliance-related, you could always look to recent 'retro' trends instead. It would be easy to start typing school reports on a typewriter instead of a bulky old computer, and, you'd certainly look like the classiest kid in school if you used one.

Or, if using a typewriter doesn't seem unique and trendy enough on its own, you could always find yourself a teacup like we have hiding upstairs, with a moustache shield to sip from while you're typing away. You could bring back moustaches, click away on your typewriter, and stay deliciously tidy, even with a latte.

Come 'Mo-vember' you'd have the tidiest moustache in town and everyone would adore you for it. Just imagine all the trendy hipster kids that would want to be your friend!

And finally, once you've gathered yourself a pile of eco-friendly, trend aware friends (all thanks to the museum), you could all party, even during a power outage, with my favourite old invention that you can find at the Historical Museum, a hand-powered record player. Give it a few cranks, turn it on, and you could have a candle-lit dance party any night of the year, whether or not all those summer thunder storms manage to knock out your power!

Who needs new inventions, when all these old ones could make such stunning comebacks?

Sheri Nault

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Prince Albert Historical Society

The Prince Albert Historical Society is one of the oldest historical societies in Western Canada, first established in 1886 by residents who realized that the previous generation and they themselves were making history by developing Prince Albert and the surrounding region. A fire in 1890 at the Nisbet Academy destroyed the artifacts and records that the Society had collected, which also put an end to the Society for a time. In 1923 Professor Arthur Morton, the City of Prince Albert and citizens interested in local history reorganized the Historical Society. The Society established a museum in the Nisbet church located in Kinsmen (then Bryant) park and an archive in 1932. The museum was moved to the Prince Albert Court House on Central Avenue in 1946. The Nisbet Church was again established as a museum in 1972 and operated until 1975. When the Fire Department vacated the original fire hall in 1975 the City of Prince Albert invited the Society to establish a permanent museum in that building. Since 1977 when the permanent museum opened to the public the Prince Albert Historical Society has been based at the appropriately historic original fire hall at 10 River Street East. The Bill Smiley Archives are named in honour of the man who has done more to preserve Prince Albert history than any other, having spent years collecting and organizing important historical items. Today over 15,000 photographs. 300,000 negatives and 15,000 documents are kept at the Historical Museum. These records are a significant source for information on Prince Albert, the surrounding region and all of Canada. Access to the archives is available to the public and if you are interested in acquiring information please check our archives page. As of 2009 our Society is made up of 55 members and 14 member volunteer board of directors. Membership fees are $ 10.00 per year. We hold many annual events including the spring Crocus Tea, participate in the downtown Street Fair and host a Christmas Party. During the summer season a staff of 13 tour guides keeps the museums open while during the rest of the year the museums can visited accompanied with one of our dedicated volunteer members. The Prince Albert Historical Society is committed to preserving local history and being able to showcase it to local residents and visitors alike.

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